Mixing apparatus



Feb. 15, \1949. R, CAWOOD ET AL 2,461,720

" MIXING" APPARATUS Filed July 29, 1944. y 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2| y f m|| /5 l I' A I6 I F\G.Z.Q

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22g/m14 @www INVENTORS` Feb. 15, 1949. l R, ,IcAwooD 'E1-AL 2,461,720

MIXING APPARATUS Filed July 29, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Anz' Patented Feb. l5, 19 49 MIXING APPARATUS Richard L. Cawood and Bryant W. Richardson, East Liverpool, Ohio, assignors to The Patterson Foundry & Machine Co.,

corporation of Ohio East Liverpool, Ohio, a

Application July 29, 1944, Serial No. 547,234

8 Claims. (Cl. 259-98) l This invention relates to mixing iluids and is particularly applicable to mixtures of pluralities of liquids, liquids and gases, and liquids and solids.

vanother embodiment of the invention which is particularly suitable for use with materials which are unusually'diiiicult to dissolve or disintegrate, The apparatus shown consists of a tank having the device being broken away;

An Object of the invention is to provide an 5 cylindrical sides I andacurved bottom 2 ,thetop improved mixing device which will mix together of the tank being spanned by a supporting spider materials, at least one of which is fluid or liquid, 3 which carries centrally of the'tank 'a driving rapidly and emcient'ly. means, shown generally as an electric motor l.

Another Objectis to provide an improved mix- 'I'his motor is preferably of a typeincluding en'- ing device which wiillrequire little power in its l0 closed speed reduction gearing, although it will opel-uam v I be apparent that a bevel gear might besubsti- Another objeetis'to provide anv improved mix- VtutedA therefor, this in turn` driven by a -bevel ing device which will be composed of few and pinion on a horizontal shaft, or the drive might Snnple paring,` be by belt'andpulleys, or anyother equivalent Another obiectis tic-Provide an improved mlxl5 well-known or desired speed reducing driving ing device which may be readily and economically means may be used to rotate the mixing device manufactured. 7 f shaft. 5.

Another object ie to provide an improved mix-y Theshaft 5 extends downwardly along the axis ing device which may easily be assembled and ofthe tank, being supported at its lower end in` disassembled. ..20 a bearing 6 carried by a spider-like bracket l. e

Another object is to provide an improved miX- Fixed to the exterior of the shaft, adjacent its ing device which will cause interacting mixin lowerend. is a central hub 8, of a rotor to which currents. v hub Aare fixed. as by welding; tubular arms. 9 car- Another obiectis to provide'an improved mix` rying ai; their outer ends a frustro-conical 'iming device which will comminute suspended solid 2 5 peller I0 shownv as arranged with its smaller end materials. uppermost. e v

Another object is to provide an imprcved miX-F The rotor or impeller is shown as frustro-coniing device which will disintegrate suspended solid cal in shape in the drawings'but it will be apmaterials. l 4 parent that it need not be'of precisely a mathe- Ancthcrcbject 1S t0 Provide an improved miX- 30 'maticalsurface' of revolution.` In fact, a frustreing device which' will dissolve suspended solid pyramidal rotor functions `in substantially. the materials. Y v same manner, the corners betweenthe various Another object is to provide an improved mix-v sides acting to impel liquid much in the manner ing device which Will-,emulsify or beat together .of the blades which will be hereinafter der- Y "e two liuidstoa line state of division. 35 scribed. f j,

Another object is toprovide an improved mix'- VInasmuchas there are many'frustro-pyramid'al ing device which will -be self-cleaning.- Y and similar geometrical shapes and combinations f Another object is to provide an improved mixll. of shapes which may be used to obtain the' beneing device which will require a minimum of viltspf the invention; and forthe sake'of simplicity servicing. A l 40 -andbrevity of description, it will be understood Other objects will hereinafter appear. Y The lnventon will be better understood fromthe description of apparatus constituting onen* practical embodiment thereof. illustrated in `they accompanying'drawing, the illustrations of the" drawings being as follows: Figure l is a side elevational view of a mixing .device embodying my invention, parts ofthe tank "n vstructure and the like which enclose and vsupport that the words frustro-conical when used hereinafter -shall beV deljlnedas including any shape having its parts generally symmetrically arranged. around the axis of the"v shaftifandjha'vin'g a Iiiijsmaller ,Qpeningatfits top and a largerA opening Niet'itsfbnttem- .f 51- y y' 'The impeller` i0 has fixed to it a series'oi tins, "vanes or blades, these blades shown as veach conn ":sisting of anl inner b1ade -portion` Il, an outer yiiobladeportion I2, and a depending end il. The Figure 2 is -acentral vertical" sectional .viewv' blades may befwelded to the impeller, and ex through the apparatus -ofFigure' 1;. tending` in 'generalxin thedirection of elements. Figure 3 is a-,plan lsectional view taken on the of the, conical'surface. The outer blade portion f III-III of Figurel; and is, throughoutthemajority of its extent, serrated Us a vlewslmilarto'lilgurel .showing ce as indicated at M a The upper ends of the blades illustrated terminate adjacent the top of the impeller and their lower ends project or depend a substantial distance below the bottom of the impeller. Extending across the bottom of the impeller are a series of parallel chordally arranged fins or bars I5.

-Supported on the upturned ends I6 of the bracket'l is a cage which consists of a lower ring I1, an upper ring I8, the former being secured to the bracket as by machine screws I9.

The rings are spaced apart by upwardly extending inclined vanes or blades 20, which have inner serrated surfaces 2| substantially conjugate to the surfaces Il, but spaced therefrom slightly, as illustrated in the drawing.

Fixed to the bracket 1 are a plurality of stationary chordally extending bars or vanes 22 arranged to underlie and be spaced slightly below the bars I of the rotor.

The parts of the rotor are all conveniently united as by welding, and the parts of the cage similarly are conveniently and effectively united in this fashion.

While the arrangement of the vanes has been very specifically described as these are shown in the rst three figures of the drawing, it will be apparent that considerable variation in these parts and the other associated parts may be made while preserving the spirit of the invention and obtaining the functions of the blades illustrated.

For example, the depending ends I3 of the blades may be replaced by further extending the vanes I5. The vanes I2 themselves might not be continuous, but may vconsist of series of sections. The shape of these sections may be varied as by making them with straight, curved, or scalloped edges giving them the form of knobs. bosses, buckets, or the like, it only-being essential that they. be capable of impelling the liquid as is described in' conjunction with the action of the vanes illustrated. They may extend along elements of the frustro-conical surface, or may be arranged somewhat helically thereon or in any other'gmanner desired.

The operationof the device is as follows: With the tank vfilled with liquid to a height somewhat above vthe top -of the rotor and cage,

to rotate rapidly within the cage.

The linternal portion of the blades cause liquidwithin the rotor to be carried around with it, and centrifugal force produced by this rapid rotation carries the liquid from the smaller end to and through the larger end of the conical impeller` I0.

Liquid on the exterior of the rotor; however. is not restrained by the conical surface, and so the motor is put into operation, causing the rotor is thrown ofi tangentially in various horizontal.

planes, as indicated bythe arrows 24.

Below the bottom of the conical impeller I0,

the extensions I3 of the blades also tend to move- 4 erally vertical cylindrical surfaces as indicated by the arrows 25.

Where these 'currents intersect each other, an interaction somewhat akin to a shearing action is produced, and this may be referred to as the action of shear planes.

A somewhat similar shearing action occurs between liquid which is being thrown outwardly tangentially by the outer rotor blades I2 where this encounters liquid which has been stopped in its outward motion adjacent the stationary vanes 20, as indicated at 26.

It is found that this shear plane" type of action increases greatly the speed with which thorough mixing, dissolving or disintegrating of the materials may be obtained.

Also, the rapid passage of the serrated edges of the rotor blades I4 adjacent the stationary edges 2| of the stationary blades produces a dennite shearing action, capable of quickly and eectively disintegrating as cominuting any solid material which may be in suspension in the liquid, such as vegetable or mineral fibers, granulated material, or other organic or inorganic solids and the like, and so disperses any suchsolid material in nely divided condition through the mass of liquid.`

It is not necessary that edges actually come in contact, but they may be spaced apart further than would shear blades in cutting solid materials in the air, as the particles on .which they operate are partially held from displacement by the inertia of the uid in which they are suspended, and it is rfound that some shearing action takes place even with the outer cage entirely removed, which causes such solid material to be much more rapidly incorporated inthe iiuid than has been possible with prior types of mixers, althoughnot as rapidly as when the rotor and cage are used together.

the liquid tangentially, but its direction at this point is also influenced 'by the downward ow I of the liquid as indicated bythe arrows 23.

It will be apparent that, as the liquid is moved downwardly to impinge upon the tank bottom 2, it will be deflected outwardly and upwardly as indicated by the arrows 25.

Consequently, in the annular spaces between the 'sides of the rotor and the side wall I of the tank, there are created two sets of currents which tend to move in generally mutually perpendicular directions, one set of currents moving outwardly inhorizontal planes as ,indicated by thearrows 24. and the other' set moving upwardly along gen- In Figure 4 is shown a modified embodiment of the invention which is, particularly useful with some types of materials which are very difiicult to incorporate in liquid mixtures, even with the apparatus of the preceding gures.

In'this embodiment is shown a tank generally similar to that above described, -consisting of a cylindrical wall |0| and curved bottom |02.

The mixer shaft |05 is driven, through a bevelled gear |03 fixed to this shaft, by a bevelled pinion |03a, fixed to the shaft of. the driving motor |04.

The lower part of the shaft |05 is supported in a guide bearing |06 carried by downwardly diverging arms |01, secured to the bottom |02 of the tank. A

These arms are themselves-serrated on their outer edges, as indicated at I2 I, so that they con-- stitute both the bearing supporting bracket and the stationary cage of the mixing device.v

Fixed upon the shaft |05 is a frustro-conical rotor |.|0,.carried by arms |09 extending radially from a hub |08 secured on the shaft.l

Within the rotor are elementally, extending ribs vor vanes |I| having inner serrated edges III. It

will be noted that the serrated edges I|0`and |2I approach most closely at the bottom of the rotor 'or impeller and diverge from each other in an upward direction.

Secured to the end of V shaft 5, just below theA level of the bottom of the impeller is a turbine H5 which serves to throw liquid outwardly at this point. i Y

The action of this apparatus is 'very similar to that of the one previously described, as it will bel the two sets ofserrated' apparent that the liquid within the rotor is caused to move down rapidly and to rotate rapidly with the rotor by the fins or vanesl lil.

This downwardly moving and whirling liquid, carrying with it whatever solids may be present, moves rapidly transversely past the stationary edges of the supporting arms |01, introducing a shear action of the type previously described. Any tendency of these arms lto restrain the liquid in its rotative motion is offset by the action of the turbine H5 in throwing it outwardly as soonk as it emerges from the bottom of the impeller.

vHere again, -as in the iirst embodiment, the shape and placing of the vanes or iinsmay be considerably varied and these may be made continuous or interrupted, of thin plates or in the form of bosses, etc., so long as they provide a grip tending to move the liquid with the impeller as it rotates.

It will be understood that the term mixing is used hereinafter to include mixing, comminuting, distintegrating, dispersing, blending, dissolving, emulsifying, plasticizing, homogenizing, macerating, churning, and all such operations as may be performed by mechanically agitating mixtures of liquids, or liquids and solids, whether or not gases are also included, and which operations result in solutions, suspensions, dispersions, changes in viscosity and the like.

The speed of rotation of the impeller is somewhat critical, although this cannot well be reduced to a single figure orformula, because there are so many variations in the characteristics \,of the fluids which may be mixed, as of viscosity, specific gravity, etc., that a different critical speed exists for each variation of any of these factors.

However, it will be apparent that if the impeller be rotated relatively slowly, it will function as a pump, creating some pressure differential on the uid within it through centrifugal force, and thus causing a downward flow of this uid. On its exterior, however, the tendency of vanes i2 is to carry an enveloping layer of fluid around with the impeller, this layer being held in place by the upward iiow of the surrounding iiuid which is being displaced by that moving down within the impeller.

In this situation the impeller functions only as a simple type of centrifugal pump. The rotating layer of fluid only serves to reduce friction between it and the rotor.

However, when the impeller is rotated at al speed above that which is critical for the particula-r material being handled, centrifugal force throws this fluid outwardly, vas indicated in the drawings, causing the streams thus produced to intercept, with a shearing action, the rising current produced by the uid driven through` the interior of the rotor. l

l A type of turbulence is thus produced which is totally different from the circulation of the pumped stream alone, and a much more rapid,

complete, and effective mixing results.

While we have described the illustrated embodiment of our invention in some particularity, obviously many'others will readily occur to those skilledin this art, and we do not, therefore, limit ourselves to the precise details shown and described herein, but claim as our invention all embodiments, variations and modifications coming Within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim: I

1. Mixing apparatus comprising a shaft, driving means therefor, a frustrm-conical impellercarried by the shaft and substantially coaxial therewith, and vanes extending elementally on the exterior of the frustro-conical impeller and projecting beyond thelarge end of the frustreconical impeller, and a plurality of stationary vanes spaced outwardly from and extending in susbtantially the same direction as the vanes of the exterior of the impeller.

2. Mixing apparatus comprising a shaft, driving means therefor, a frustro-conical impeller carried by the shaft and substantially coaxial therewith, and vanes extending elementally on the exterior of the frustro-conical impeller and projecting beyond the large end of the frustreconical impeller, and a plurality of stationary vanes spaced outwardly from and extending in substantially the same direction as the'vanes ofy the exterior of the impeller, the vanes on the impeller and the stationary vanes having serrated interfitting edges.

3. Mixing apparatus comprising a frustro-conical impeller, a series of parallel chordally extending vanes depending from the lower end of the impeller, and a series of stationary vanes beneath said chordally extending vanes.

4. Mixing devicecomprising a container, a vertically arranged shaft therein, driving means operatively connected to the upper end of the shaft, a stationary bracket in the bottom of the container having a bearing supporting the lower end of the shaft, a frustro-conical impeller coaxial with and xed to the shaft adjacent its lower end, and a plurality of elementally extending vanes :xed to the interior surface of the frustro-conical impeller and extending beyond the larger end thereof.

5. Mixing device comprising a container, a vertically arranged shaft therein, driving means operatively connected to the upper end of the shaft, a stationary bracket in the bottom of the containerhaving a bearing supporting the lower end of the shaft, a frustro-conical impeller coaxial with and fixed to the shaft adjacent its lower end, and a plurality of elementally extending vanes fixed to the interior surface of the frustroconical impeller and extending beyond the larger end thereof, and stationary vanes carried by the bracket and spaced from the bottom of the container. y

6. Mixing device comprising a container, a vertically arranged shaft therein, driving means operatively connected to the upper end of the shaft, a stationary bracket in the bottom of the container having a bearing supporting the lower end of the shaft, a frustro-conical impeller coaxial with and xed to the shaft adjacent its lower end, a plurality of elementally extending vanes xed to the exterior of the impeller and extending beyond the larger end thereof, and a plurality of stal tionary vanes surrounding said vanes carried by the bracket.

'1. Mixing device comprising a container, a vertically arranged shaft therein, driving means operatively connected to the upper end of the shaft, a stationary bracket in the bottom' of the container having a bearing supporting the lower end of the shaft, a frustro-conical impellerI coaxial with and fixed to the shaft adjacent its lower end, a plurality of elementally extending vanes xed to the exterior of the impeller and extending beyond the larger end thereof, and a plurality of stationary vanes surrounding said vanes carried by the bracket, said vanes having serrated edges, the serrations of the vanes on the impeller'passi tically arranged shaft therein, driving means operatively connected to the upper end of the shaft, a stationary bracket in the bottom of the container having a bearing supporting the lower end of the shaft, a, frustro-conical impeller coaxial with and xed to the shaft adjacent its lower end, a plurality of elementally extending vanes ilxed to the exterior of the im'peller and extending beyond the larger end thereof. and a plurality of stationary vanes surrounding said vanes carried by the bracket, said vanes having serrated edges, the serrations of the vanes on the impeller passing within the serrations of the stationary vanes as the impeller is rotated, a plurality of chordally extending vanes secured to the bottom of the impeller, and a plurality of chordally extending vanes fixed to the bracket and underlying the 20 f chordally extending vanes of the impeller.y

RICHARD 'L. cAwooD. BRYANT W. RICHARDSON.

REFERENCES orrlm The following references are of record in the 111e of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name .y Date 391,787 Friend Oct. 30, 1888 444,345 Gabbett Jan. 6, 1891 612,317 Dundon Oct. 11, 1898 801,709 Brown Oct. 10, 1805 1,456,034 Newman May 22, 1923 1,540,853 Mace June 9, 1925 e 1,768,955 Johnson July 1, 1930 1,794,214 Thurm et al. Feb. 24, 1931 15 1,804,966 Valentine May 12,1931 1,962,803 Bruins June 12, 1934 2,278,051 Ambrose Mar. 31, 1942 2,309,594 Hutchings Jan. 26, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 4,260 Great Britain Feb. 28, 1894 225,767 Great Britain Dec. 11, 1924 284.913

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